The invention relates to fluid pumping vehicles, such as vehicles for pumping cement slurry.
Many activities may be performed in a well during the drilling, completion, and production phases of well operation. For example, when placing casing or a liner in a wellbore, the casing or liner is typically cemented to the inner wall of the wellbore. The cement is mixed at the surface and pumped into the wellbore as cement slurry. The cement slurry is flowed into the annular region between the outside of the casing or liner and the inner wall of the wellbore.
The cement slurry is typically mixed at the well surface by a truck carrying the cement mixer equipment. The cement slurry is a mixture of water, cement powder, and additives, which are mixed by the cement mixer. The truck typically also contains a pump to pump the cement slurry into the well through a tubing. Trucks are used to carry the cement mixing and pumping equipment to provide mobility to various well sites that need their services. In many instances, the well sites are located in remote regions that may be difficult to reach.
Conventional cement mixing and pumping equipment are relatively heavy, and include hydraulic pumps, displacement tanks, and various other equipment. To carry the heavy equipment, relatively large trucks may be used. Such trucks may have multiple (e.g., two) rear axles to handle the load of the heavy equipment. Due to the heavy load and the size of the trucks, it may be difficult to drive the trucks to some well sites in hard-to-reach locations. In addition, government regulations may place weight limits on trucks. For example, a limit may be set on the load that may be placed on the rear axle(s) of the truck, particularly during some months of the year. With many conventional cement mixing and pumping trucks, the weight load is concentrated on the rear axle(s), which may violate government regulations for some roads.
Conventionally, to deliver cement slurry from the cement mixing and pumping truck to wellhead equipment, high-pressure metal (e.g., steel) tubing (sometimes referred to as treating iron) is used. The tubing is typically made up of several segments, with the segments carried by the cement mixing and pumping truck. Attachment of the segments is performed at the well site. However, the tubing segments are typically heavy and may be unwieldy. In addition, the tubing is inflexible, which requires use of special equipment to enable vertical movement of wellbore components such as casing. Making up the tubing and the associated equipment is a time consuming process. In addition, having to transport the heavy tubing segments and associated equipment adds to the overall weight of the truck.
A need thus exists for a method and apparatus to overcome limitations of conventional systems used for conveying cement slurry and other types of fluids into a wellbore.
In general, according to one embodiment, a vehicle comprises a cab, at least one reservoir, and at least one pump positioned between the at least one reservoir and the cab. The vehicle also comprises a hose assembly through which fluid from the reservoir may be pumped.
Other features and embodiments will become apparent from the following description, from the drawings, and from the claims.